Get Away From Me
by spontaneopyrokinetic
Summary: Changed the title (was formerly Why US?)Kagome's pregnant...and Inu's not the father! Or is he? InuKag, maybe (quite possibly, actually) SessKag later on. This story is now FINISHED!
1. Kagome's WHAT?

[A/N: Okay, I am all for InuKag pairings, but I felt I had to write this... "write what you feel," and all that, ne? This is either the result of rose incense or too much crappy fanfiction. Here goes. Wish me luck! (And I'm winging this, so any suggestions are very welcome!!)]  
  
Disclaimer: Fine. You caught me. I have Inuyasha stashed in the basement, I abandoned Kagome on the side of Highway 51, I sold Sango at a pawn shop, I gave Miroku to my friend in Ohio—but I have Sesshoumaru in the closet upstairs. Heh heh heh heh...  
  
Climbing out of the well in Kagome's time, Inuyasha flattened his ears against his head at the noise. Angry shouts ripped the normally calm landscape into an otherwise still battleground.  
  
"But Mom, I—"  
  
"I don't want to hear it, young lady. If you think you can do that, then just go back to the Sengoku Jidai and stay there!"  
  
"But Mom, I don't even remember—"  
  
"YOU DON'T REMEMBER?!?! HOW DO YOU FORGET SOMETHING LIKE THAT??"  
  
"I—"  
  
"Just go. JUST LEAVE, AND DON'T YOU DARE COME BACK!!!" Kagome came storming out the back door towards Inuyasha, tears streaming down her face. She was lugging her huge backpack with her, though it seemed larger than normal.  
  
"Kagome, what's with your mom?" asked Inuyasha.  
  
"Not now. I'll tell you when we get back," sobbed Kagome.  
  
***  
  
Shippou jumped into Kagome's arms upon her arrival. She was still crying about as hard as humanly possible, and Shippou was sure it was all Inuyasha's fault.  
  
"What did you do now, Inuyasha?"  
  
"Me? I didn't do anything!"  
  
"Sure... (I bet you insulted her again, didn't you?)" Kagome rubbed her eyes and set Shippou on the ground.  
  
"Shippou, why don't you go back to the village and tell the others I've come back. Inuyasha and I have to talk." Flashing a bright smile, Shippou ran off.  
  
Deeper in the forest, Kagome and Inuyasha were sitting on one of the larger branches of the Go-shin-boku. Kagome sighed and tears began running down her face again.  
  
"Kagome, what's wrong?"  
  
"Everything. Everything's gone wrong. Inuyasha...I...I..." she couldn't finish. Inuyasha reached over and hugged her as she sobbed into his haori. She mumbled incoherently into his chest as she hugged him back.  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"I'm...I'm...sorry, Inuyasha."  
  
"What for?"  
  
"I...we...I'm pregnant." Inuyasha nearly, strike that, he did fall out of the tree. From upside down on the ground, he yelled up at her, "You're WHAT???"  
  
Inching down the tree to land rather ungracefully beside him, Kagome helped him up.  
  
"You heard me."  
  
"But we didn't...who...how...why...we didn't...I'm confused."  
  
"So am I. I don't even remember...trust me, I'd remember......bet you I'm more confused than you are."  
  
"So what do we do?"  
  
"Nothing to do but continue living until it becomes a real problem, I guess."  
  
"How do we keep everybody else from finding out?"  
  
"No guarantee. Let's go."  
  
[I was going to end the chapter here, but what the hell. On with the fic!!]  
  
***  
  
"Lady Kagome, welcome back," greeted Miroku from Kaede's doorway.  
  
"Yes, welcome back, Kagome," said Sango as she hit Miroku over the head for groping her butt.  
  
"It was worth a shot," mumbled Miroku.  
  
"No it wasn't. Keep groping and I'll knock that hand clear off."  
  
The group set out that very afternoon in the direction of a new lead on more shards. Stopping was the last thing on Inuyasha's mind as he walked just ahead of everyone else.  
  
Ok. I know sure as hell I'm not the father. Kagome says she doesn't know or remember; and I believe her. Then who is it? Who could have done this to her? I swear, if I find the bastard...  
  
"Inuyasha, are you okay? You're going slower than usual." Miroku's call from ahead startled Inuyasha out of his musings. Leaping ahead of the group again, he tried to clear his head...to no avail.  
  
The thoughts of Kagome's [word trouble here] assailant just wouldn't leave themselves unthought-of.  
  
Who is it? Why can she not remember? Could it have been Kouga? Maybe. Highly likely. But what would have caused her to lose her memory of the incident? Shit-for-brains Kouga doesn't have the know-how or the resources for that kind of magic. Then who was it?  
  
I really wanted Kagome's first pup to be mine...chances ruined. I love her, though, and I'm gonna support her for the whole goddamn nine months. The whole god-fuckin-damn nine months. Great.  
  
After Miroku and Sango has fallen asleep a comfortable distance away from each other—"Touch me and die, monk"—Kagome and Inuyasha sat next to each other, staring into the fire. Each knew what was on the other's mind.  
  
"Inuyasha—"  
  
"Kagome—"  
  
They both stopped.  
  
"You first."  
  
"No, you first, Inuyasha."  
  
"Okay." He pulled her closer to him in a one-armed hug. "I just want you to know that I'll do two things. One being I'll kill the bastard that did this to you, and the second being that I'll support you. I won't abandon you ever again." Kagome started crying again.  
  
"What's wrong now?"  
  
"Inu-ya-asha, I-m so so-so-sorry for put-ting you through all thi-this. I don't wa-want to cry, be-because I know you'll b-be there for me, b-but I d- don't want you to g-go off-f with Ki-Ki-Kikyo again..." she sobbed.  
  
"Kikyo? I said I won't leave you and I mean it. I really mean it."  
  
"The-thanks, Inuyasha. I love you."  
  
"I love you, too, Kagome."  
  
[A/N: Well, Whadaya think? I'll try to update this at LEAST twice a week. Any suggestions, comments, or complaints are welcome! Be thankful. I am NEVER this cheerful! Ja ne! ^___^ v] 


	2. Miroku Becomes Suspicious

WildChild026: Thank you; I'll try to update at least twice a week, but I'm making no promises (I write this when I'm supposed to be doing my Independent Study project, so sue me.). BlackTulip: Thanks! Sorry (I guess?) about the cussing; I put that there both because that's what Inuyasha would say and it's my own habit (I'm 13 and I live in Arkansas, give me a break.).  
  
Disclaimer: Roses are red, violets are blue, I don't own Inuyasha, so don't you dare sue.  
  
It had been the most uneventful two weeks ever to pass for the five travelers. They hadn't met any demons, hadn't gained any jewel shards, hadn't gotten any news, nothing.  
  
But Miroku had noticed one thing. Kagome and Inuyasha seemed closer to each other than before...and something about Kagome's aura had changed. Exactly what, he wasn't sure. No matter.  
  
"I swear, every time. 'Evil aura,' he says. 'Exorcism,' he says. Aren't monks supposed to be principled and honest? You're neither," grumbled Inuyasha.  
  
"I certainly didn't want to sleep in the woods again tonight, so I took advantage of the nearby mansion."  
  
"Whatever. At least the food's good."  
  
***  
  
From her futon, Kagome stared across the room at the sleeping Inuyasha. Well, she didn't know if he was really asleep or not...but she liked to think so. He was so cute when he was asleep.  
  
'He said he'll be there for me, and I believe him...I suppose. I don't know how we're going to get through all this...' she sighed, rolled over and nearly died of shock—Inuyasha was sitting there. She hadn't been paying attention the last few seconds, and he had moved.  
  
"What?" she said.  
  
"You seem tense."  
  
"Well I'm not exactly the happiest person right now, am I?"  
  
"Relax and live life. There's not anything you can do about it, so suck it up."  
  
"Thanks. I feel so much better now," Kagome said sarcastically, rolling over. Inuyasha lay down next to her. To his surprise, Kagome didn't reject him. In fact, she threw part of the blanket over him.  
  
Inuyasha smiled to himself and turned over to face Kagome's back. Putting his arm around her waist, they fell asleep, cuddled into each other's arms. [A/N: WAFFY, YAY!!! So sweet it makes your teeth rot...]  
  
***  
  
Waking up early had never been Inuyasha's favorite thing to do; it was just a habit. Truth be told, he didn't want to get up early that morning; he was warm and comfortable under the covers with Kagome, who was still asleep.  
  
Looking up across the still dark room, Inuyasha found himself staring at a smirking Miroku.  
  
"Get your mind out of the gutter, monk," Inuyasha whispered harshly.  
  
"I would never think such things of Kagome." Inuyasha seemed to settle for a second. "Of you, on the other hand..."  
  
"Fuck off, Miroku."  
  
"Speaking of which..."  
  
"Would you shut up? You'll wake Kagome."  
  
"Fine." Miroku continued to glare at Inuyasha with envy.  
  
'There is definitely something between them...exactly what, and whether it's stable or not remains to be seen...oh well. Time to wake Sango, goody...'  
  
"Houshi...I realize that your hand threatens your life, but amputation really isn't the answer!" yelled Sango, sitting up abruptly with a knife pressed to the flesh of Miroku's right hand.  
  
"Glad to see you're awake, Sango. (Take that thing away from my arm, psycho...)"  
  
Kagome stirred, and Inuyasha removed his hand from her waist. She sat up, yawning to rival the talents of a lion who has nothing better to do than sit there in the sun all day.  
  
"Morning, everybody."  
  
'Why is everybody looking at me?' she thought. Inuyasha sat up beside her.  
  
'Oh, him.'  
  
[A/N: Well, then...howzat fer yah? Short, I know. March Break starts tomorrow, so I'll probably get a lot of writing done.  
  
Inuyasha: Hey you! When do I get to kiss Kagome?  
  
SPK: When I say so.  
  
Inuyasha: Why do I have to wait?? I want to kiss her now.  
  
Kagome: Hey! Perv! I'm pregnant by somebody who ISN'T YOU, and all you can think of is kissing me??? Pervert.  
  
Inuyasha: *quails under furious stares of co-stars*  
  
Miroku: Even I'm not that bad. Wait a second, Kagome is WHAT??? When were you going to tell us??  
  
Kagome and Inuyasha: Uh...we were gonna tell you...wait till it comes in the story!!!  
  
Sesshoumaru: And when do I get in the story?  
  
SPK: You'll all be lucky to be in it at all, the way you're behaving!  
  
Read and Review. Thanks.  
  
Long Live Skynyrd.] 


	3. A Dead Dragon and A Huge Battlefield

Marlee Roman Cruz: Thank you!! That would be cool!!  
  
Hakusho009: I said I had two reviews for THIS story...hn. I guess you're not reading this story...pointless space here, then...cool  
  
Kitsune-Miako: That is who I'm leaning towards to be the father, but I haven't decided for sure yet (like I said, I'm winging this and writing it in GT.)  
  
Essence of Randomness: (cool name, by the way!) Thanks!! This is my first fanfic that I'm making up as I go along, and it's turning out pretty good, wouldn't you say?  
  
Disclaimer: No, it just so happens that I don't own the damn show. Sesshoumaru himself, on the other hand...heh heh heh...I'd like that...  
  
**  
  
"Hey, Kagome..." said Shippou. "Not that I want you to go back or anything, but you're usually gone after two and a half weeks."  
  
"Oh...I just wanted to spend more time with you guys is all."  
  
'Nice save,' thought Inuyasha sarcastically from above in one of the trees that lined the path.  
  
"Hey, what's that up ahead?" asked Sango, pointing at an indistinct blob on the crest of the next hill, some distance away.  
  
"I dunno...doesn't look to be alive anymore, whatever it was," said Inuyasha, jumping down to land beside the taijiya.  
  
"Suppose we better check it out."  
  
***  
  
True, it wasn't alive anymore, though it clearly had been once. The thing on the ground was merely a heap of scaly flesh, sitting there rotting away as if there weren't a care in the world.  
  
"Ugh, I'm pretty sure that's dragon. But there's something else here, too. Dunno what, though. The smell of dead dragon is too strong to tell it apart," said Inuyasha, covering his nose with the sleeve of his haori.  
  
"That's disgusting. That's really disgusting. Let's go," said Kagome.  
  
But the dragon was just the beginning. Upon reaching the top of the next hill, where the forest that fringed the left side of the path stopped and a large valley opened up, they witnessed the aftermath of the worst battle any of them had seen yet.  
  
"Countless thousands," breathed Miroku.  
  
"No way was this a battle. A demon slaughtered them all."  
  
"No way we're gonna bury them all."  
  
"Inuyasha!"  
  
"What? You don't expect us to bury them all, do you?"  
  
"Point made. Let's go then. I can't bear the smell of my brother any longer"  
  
"So Sesshoumaru murdered them all?"  
  
"Smells like it."  
  
***  
  
Sesshoumaru had slaughtered those humans. Why? He didn't need a reason. He did what he wanted. But to slay what was easily over ten thousand humans—more than a hundred villages—was a little much even for him.  
  
"Why do you think Sesshoumaru killed those people?" asked Kagome.  
  
"Don't ask me. He doesn't really need a reason; he just goes and kills for the fun of it."  
  
"That's creepy. I don't see why he would want to go and kill them just because...seems like his conscience must weigh a ton."  
  
"Conscience? That idiot doesn't know the word even exists." Inuyasha stopped at the edge of the forest growing up to the path. 'Guess this is as good a place as any to stop for the night.'  
  
"Why are you stopping, Inuyasha?" asked Sango.  
  
"Guess I'm just tired." Miroku stepped up to him, tapping his staff on Inuyasha's head lightly.  
  
"I get it."  
  
"Get what?"  
  
"You just want to cuddle by the fire with Kagome, don't you?" A split second later, he was on his back after being hit by both Inuyasha and Kagome.  
  
"Does that answer your question, monk?" said Kagome huffily.  
  
"No, actually," Miroku had the nerve to say.  
  
"Miroku, you jackass, listen—"  
  
"What Inuyasha is trying to say is, well, yes and no." Miroku, Sango, and Shippou looked at them queerly.  
  
"Don't worry about it."  
  
***  
  
Kagome was asleep, resting against Inuyasha's chest. Inuyasha stared up at the quarter moon, thinking his cute little hanyou brains out (some of the cuteness of those ears has to absorb into that thick skull, you know.).  
  
"Inuyasha, what are you thinking about?" asked Miroku.  
  
"None of your business."  
  
"Oh, I see."  
  
"It's not like that!"  
  
"Sure."  
  
"Would you give it a rest, Miroku? We don't need this from you. Especially not Kagome."  
  
"..."  
  
"Long story, don't ask."  
  
[A/N: I'm thinking of setting a review goal for the next chapter. Let's make it easy and say...ten reviews. I'll get the chapter uploaded as soon as I write it, then I'll wait for ten reviews. Next Time: Will Inuyasha figure out why Sesshoumaru slaughtered the humans? Will the secret be spilled? Will Sesshoumaru get screen time???  
  
Sesshoumaru: I hope so.  
  
Inuyasha: Why should you even be in the story? My name is the title of the whole show. I should be the only character.  
  
Miroku: One, that would be boring, and two, you wouldn't have Kagome around...  
  
Inuyasha: Shut up.  
  
Miroku: But you love her...  
  
Inuyasha: *strangles Miroku* Do not!  
  
Kagome: Ahem...  
  
Inuyasha: oops.  
  
Kagome: OSUWARI!!!!  
  
Inuyasha: *plof* *leaves crater in ground* Bitch.] 


	4. Miroku Ponders

OK, I didn't exactly get ten reviews, but who cares? Not like I ever stick to commitments anyway.  
  
Deamon Drama Queen: IT ISN'T FAIR!!!!! She does get all the hot guys.  
  
Remix-69er: Thanks. I will. View:  
  
Sha Gojyo: Thanks. Lookit:  
  
--==--  
  
SPK: Hey Inuyasha?  
  
Inuyasha: What?  
  
SPK: Run for your life, As fast as you can, Run like a sissy, Forget you're a man; FANGIRLS.  
  
--==--  
  
Disclaimer: What makes you think I own Inuyasha?  
  
'What did Inuyasha mean when he said "Long story, don't ask?"' thought Miroku. 'Something's going on. What could it be? Not that I really want to know or anything, but curiosity is getting the better of me.'  
  
He looked up from the fire at Inuyasha, who had at last fallen asleep.  
  
'Something between them, no doubt about it. But why are they acting strange all of a sudden?'  
  
Sango stirred in her sleep a few feet away from Miroku. He sighed and settled in to go to sleep, taking one last look at the couple across from him. Inuyasha was holding Kagome, she was holding Shippou. Miroku muttered something in disgust in which the only audible words were "can't bear my children."  
  
Not that anyone was awake to hear him.  
  
***  
  
From a tree above the clearing watched a pair of golden eyes. They saw her, sleeping as innocently as human nature would allow. And there he was, holding her close...protecting her.  
  
That was both good and bad. It was good because he needn't protect her himself, and she would indeed be well taken care of until time saw fit to bring them together again.  
  
It was bad because it would be harder to get her away from the filthy half- breed later on...that was unavoidable. They loved each other, or so they believed, and nothing could be done about that.  
  
***  
  
On the road, moving towards the weak signal of a far away jewel shard, nobody was in a very good mood, except Shippou, who ran around in the forest on either side of the path with Kirara. Miroku sulked as he walked ahead with Inuyasha; three guesses what he got in trouble for. Sango fumed, having woken up to the all-too-familiar touch on her behind and having drawn blood on the side of Miroku's face this time.  
  
"Why must you be such a pervert?" yelled Sango, quickening her pace slightly.  
  
"Have I not explained my situation?"  
  
"Yes you have, but you don't have to ask every woman you meet! Wait, no. Even every GIRL. Remember Koharu? She was way too young!"  
  
"She wasn't that young!"  
  
"Koharu was eleven, for crying out loud!"  
  
Miroku sighed and prepared himself for the impending blow. But it didn't come. He opened his eyes. Sango was seething, walking up front with Inuyasha.  
  
"You don't have to be that hard on him, you know," said Inuyasha in Miroku's defense.  
  
"He doesn't have to be that lecherous. He could at least stop womanizing for one second and—"  
  
"Pay more attention to you?" Kagome finished for her. Sango remained silent. Miroku could be heard cursing as Shippou collided with his leg, chasing Kirara. Kagome turned around.  
  
Miroku had Shippou held by the tail with one hand and was ready to hit him upside the head. Kagome ran to rescue the kitsune from the wrath of a pissed-off monk. Sango took the opportunity to satisfy her curiosity.  
  
"Inuyasha?"  
  
"Here we go."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"You're going to ask about Kagome and me, right?"  
  
"Well...yes. What's going on with you two? All of a sudden you're a couple."  
  
"Let's get one thing straight. I'm not gonna say anything until Kagome wants to, so go ask her."  
  
***  
  
"Inuyasha," Kagome's voice cut through the warm night air.  
  
"Hn."  
  
"What did you tell Sango earlier?"  
  
"What do you mean? How did you know what she asked me?"  
  
"I heard when I was on my way to hit Miroku. (He's still really mad.) I was berating him when you answered, so I didn't hear."  
  
"Oh. I didn't say anything. I told her that she could ask you and you could tell her if you wanted to. It's your deal, and I don't want to tell anyone until you think we should."  
  
Kagome was silent for a moment, before leaning over to Inuyasha, leaning on his shoulder.  
  
"Thank you."  
  
Planting a light kiss on his cheek, Kagome settled down on her sleeping bag.  
  
[A/N: Well, whadaya think? Tell me, tell me! I really appreciate reviews! Ten more reviews until the next chapter. Don't like the wait? Give me reviews. Yes, you can review more than once. Like I'm gonna stick with that, either.  
  
Sesshoumaru: Do I get lines in the next chapter?  
  
SPK: Who knows? Winging it, remember?  
  
Sesshoumaru: Damn.  
  
Inuyasha: See? I get the girl, my name in lights, AND more screen time than you!  
  
SPK: Be nice.  
  
Inuyasha: Why?  
  
SPK: Because, I write your lines. I say whether or not you get put in the story or not. Who knows? I might have you killed off.  
  
Sesshoumaru: What about me? You won't kill me off, will you?  
  
SPK: Relax, Sesshoumaru. I just now was able to get ahold of you; don't you think I'll keep you alive after all that trouble?  
  
Sesshoumaru: I don't know if I want to find out. 


	5. Kagome is Kidnapped

Lost track of reviews, so I'm not going to answer any more, but thank you!! Sorry! On with the show. And sorry in advance for any OOCness on Sesshoumaru's part; I've never really written him before.  
  
While it was nice and all that Inuyasha was considering her feelings lately, Kagome began to get a little pissed off. He was acting like she was going to shatter into a million pieces if he took his eyes off her for one second. From halfway smashed into the ground, Inuyasha cursed inaudibly.  
  
"What was that for?"  
  
"For getting on my last nerve. You're acting all...considerate all of a sudden, and it's creeping me out!"  
  
"So you don't want me to be considerate?"  
  
"Just act normal."  
  
"Perhaps I could treat you better," came a silky voice from nearby. Inuyasha leapt to his feet, preparing for a battle. In a flash, Sesshoumaru was at his side and Inuyasha was facedown again, this time with a foot in the middle of his back.  
  
"Kisama," yelled Inuyasha. "Get off me!"  
  
"Gladly. But you should rest. It sounds like you've had a hard time." Having said such, he ground Inuyasha's head into the soil and left him planted like a seedling.  
  
"What do you want, Sesshoumaru?"  
  
"Why, merely to pay a visit to the dirty hanyou and his followers." Inuyasha yelled from beneath his brother, "Why the hell do you want to do that? (Get off me, bastard!)"  
  
"Because, filthy half-breed—" suddenly the pressure was gone from Inuyasha's back. He pulled his head free of the earth and stood up. Sesshoumaru was gone, as was Kagome. Inuyasha looked up to the sound of his half-brother's voice coming from the sky before him. Sesshoumaru was standing on his cloud, [you know what I'm talking about] holding Kagome hostage.  
  
"—your woman is mine!"  
  
"SESSHOUMARU! BRING HER BACK!!!" Sesshoumaru smirked and flew off towards the west.  
  
***  
  
Damn. Damn damn damn. Inuyasha practically flew back to where Miroku and Sango were resting [were you wondering why they weren't there?], shaking pebbles out of his ears along the way.  
  
"Well don't just sit there, come on!" he roared.  
  
"Where's Kagome?" asked Sango.  
  
"She's been kidnapped!"  
  
"Kidnapped?!"  
  
"By who?"  
  
"What happened?" Calmer than either Sango or Shippou, Miroku spoke, voice wavering.  
  
"How could you let this happen, Inuyasha? You and Kagome were just getting together. You were just starting to act like a couple, and then you go and let this happen to her. You're a disgrace." Inuyasha calmed down. His ears drooped, his mouth hung slack, and he sat down, obviously impacted by the force of Miroku's words.  
  
The others looked at the former inuhanyou warrior reduced to a cowering puppy as he thought.  
  
'He's right. I am a disgrace. I'm a failure. I failed to protect Kagome. I failed to defeat Sesshoumaru. I failed to be the responsible person that I actually wanted to be.'  
  
Inuyasha's reverie was shattered as Sango slapped him into his right mind again.  
  
"Inuyasha! We have to find Kagome and get her back. Tell us the story on the way. The whole story."  
  
***  
  
Kagome glared ferociously at Sesshoumaru from her place at his side as they moved across the clear sky westward.  
  
"Do you really wish for me to drop you from this great height?" he asked, never once taking his eyes off the horizon.  
  
"No, not really."  
  
"Then smile."  
  
Kagome looked at the great taiyoukai as if he had in all seriousness lost his mind.  
  
"Smile? SMILE? How do you expect me to smile when I'm being kidnapped?" Sesshoumaru didn't answer, beginning to gradually lower the altitude of the cloud.  
  
"Is that your castle over there?" asked Kagome in wonder. It was even larger than the fake castles Naraku had lured them with. Double those and add a couple of Sango's villages and you have your Inuyoukai Palace.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Whoa," Kagome breathed. It was truly a beautiful castle; the roofs were covered in blue tiling, and there was a large pond in the central courtyard. Even from up in the air, Kagome could see the fish in it. The buildings were large and many, and they looked to be about as luxurious as makes no odds.  
  
"How come you never stay here?" asked Kagome in wonderment.  
  
"I find it tiresome to be waited on hand and foot by ugly servants."  
  
"Ugly...there are more of Jaken?"  
  
"His kind is cheap to employ, and they have been loyal to my family for years."  
  
"Too stubborn to leave, huh?"  
  
"In lamense terms..."  
  
***  
  
Having been knocked into silence by the beauty of the grounds, Kagome quickly recovered once she was safe on the ground. As soon as the cloud had dissipated and Sesshoumaru's remaining arm was loosening from around her waist, she whipped around and slapped Sesshoumaru, leaving five red scratches on his previously perfect face.  
  
His glare hardened into the usual icy look he usually had. Grabbing Kagome's hand, he stared into her eyes, chilling her spirit to the bone. She relaxed in his grip as he led her inside the curiously empty castle.  
  
"You still haven't told me why you kidnapped me."  
  
"I'll tell you later.  
  
[A/N: Though I have now lost track of reviews, I still appreciate them!!!  
  
Is inuhanyou an actual word? If it wasn't before, it is now.  
  
Inuyasha: Oy, busu!  
  
Sesshoumaru: Are you talking to me?  
  
Inuyasha: I don't see any other assholes in this room. Why the heck did you kidnap my Kagome?  
  
Sesshoumaru: Like I'm going to tell you.  
  
Inuyasha: Permission to pommel brother.  
  
SPK: Permission granted. Things are boring around here these days. I want to see a good fight.  
  
Sesshoumaru: *hides behind SPK* I never agreed to this!  
  
Inuyasha: *chases Sesshy* I did, and SPK did, so that's two out of three. Majority rules. End of story.  
  
Sesshoumaru: End the chapter before he kills me!!!] 


	6. Sesshoumaru is Attacked

[I know I said I'm not going to answer any more reviews, but I had to: Deamon Drama Queen: I agree, he could easily beat Inuyasha.]  
  
"And then he took her away," said Inuyasha as he ran along a riverbank. Miroku, Sango, and Shippou, who were riding Kirara as she flew low over the ground beside Inuyasha, were about as surprised as humanly possible.  
  
"Bull."  
  
"Nope."  
  
"Pregnant? Are you sure?"  
  
"...I'm not, but she seems to know."  
  
"How could you let this happen? I thought you loved her, the way you've been acting the last few weeks." Inuyasha paused, mulling this over for a split second.  
  
"I do love her. That's why I'm going after her."  
  
"So, Inuyasha," began Shippou, "If you love her, then why did you let Sesshoumaru get her pregnant?" Upon seeing the confused look on Inuyasha's face, Shippou finished.  
  
"You said that he said 'Your woman is mine.' It makes me think he's the one. (Honestly, Inuyasha, you have to have something under those ears...)"  
  
"That brings up something else," said Sango. "Hadn't her scent changed? Why couldn't you smell Sesshoumaru's scent as well?"  
  
"I don't know. I should have. Maybe it doesn't show up until later on."  
  
"In any case, we should hurry and rescue Kagome. Who knows what Sesshoumaru will do to her?"  
  
***  
  
To make an extraordinarily long list of aggravations short, Kagome was not happy. She sat on a bench in the courtyard, wearing the most expensive kimono that she had ever seen in her life, watching Rin play around in the fallen sakura blossoms. Jaken and Sesshoumaru had gone off into the woods for some reason or other that Kagome did not particularly care about, so she was left there to watch Rin and keep the servants as far away from her as possible.  
  
"Come on, pretty lady, Rin wants to play!" Rin tugged at the sleeve of Kagome's kimono. Kagome tugged said sleeve back as Rin's smile faded.  
  
"Why are you not happy, pretty lady?"  
  
"My name is Kagome, and I'm not happy because I'm here." Rin looked around at the beautiful yard; at the sakura trees, the flowers, and the pond with the beautiful koi.  
  
"Why are you unhappy to be here?"  
  
"Because Inuyasha's not here and Sesshoumaru is, the bastard."  
  
"Lord Sesshoumaru says that that Inuyasha person is a filthy hanyou not worthy of anything but death. Is that true?"  
  
"No. Okay, so he's selfish and belligerent, but he's actually really nice and kind, deep down."  
  
"Lord Sesshoumaru says that—"  
  
"Why do you hang around with him, anyway?"  
  
"Because he saved Rin. Come play!"  
  
"No."  
  
"Please?" Rin smiled as big as she could. Jaken came stumbling through the door, bloodied and beaten, before Kagome could say anything more. Despite her deep abhorrence for the toad, Kagome went to see what happened.  
  
Jaken coughed and cursed.  
  
"Jaken-sama, what happened?" asked Rin.  
  
"We were attacked by the river."  
  
"And what about Sesshoumaru-sama?"  
  
"I do not know." Rin grabbed Jaken's collar.  
  
"What do you mean, you don't know what happened to him? Who attacked you?"  
  
"It was the hanyou brat, Inuyasha." Kagome's eyes shone with hope.  
  
***  
  
When his brother had come hurtling into the clearing, Sesshoumaru wasn't surprised. It was to be expected, revenge for talking his woman, but what was not expected was for Inuyasha to actually win the battle.  
  
Sesshoumaru lay bleeding by the riverbank as Inuyasha stepped on his barely alive carcass. Sesshoumaru gasped in pain as blood pooled around him. Inuyasha continued walking west.  
  
In the forest beyond Sesshoumaru's broken and bleeding body, "Inuyasha" transformed into a dark-furred tanuki.  
  
"I better get paid double since I got wounded," he muttered, walking off towards what was presumably Naraku's castle...  
  
***  
  
Kagome did not have the faintest inkling why she was following Rin through the forest towards the river. Perhaps it was to see whether or not it really was Inuyasha who had attacked Sesshoumaru. Perhaps it was to see the man she loved again and feel safe in his arms once more. Perhaps it was simply because Rin had a grip on her hand and was dragging her out.  
  
Whatever the reason, Kagome and Rin hurried to the river.  
  
'Good God Almighty...' thought Kagome as they came upon Sesshoumaru's nearly dead body. Rin skidded to a halt and nearly retched; blood was everywhere. Kagome had never seen so much blood come from one body...  
  
"Sesshoumaru-sama!" Rin yelled, voice trembling with concern. Turning to the only available person, she yelled, "Save him!" Seeing as Kagome was the only available person, she was forced to do something or risk the wrath of Sesshoumaru when he healed on his own (which he undoubtedly would, given the fact that the Tenseiga would not permit him to die, just was the Tetsusaiga would not allow Inuyasha to die.)  
  
Pulling a small glass bottle out of her pocket, Kagome selected a medium- size jewel shard [see note at bottom]. Taking a breath of semi-fresh air while she could, she stepped up to Sesshoumaru and dropped the shard into one of the many gaping wounds on his torso. Stepping back while the jewel did its job, she comforted Rin, who was crying at the apparent fate of her beloved lord.  
  
[Was gonna end the chapter here, but I think it makes me sound flaky. Plus, I'm on a caffeine rush, so I have extra time to write before I fall asleep.] ***  
  
About a hundred toad-servants came shortly after to carry Sesshoumaru back to the castle. Kagome and Rin followed, Rin still sniffling. Kagome was lost in thought as she herded the little girl back; lost in thought about Inuyasha...he had never before been powerful enough to do something like that to Sesshoumaru.  
  
In spite of herself, Kagome was concerned for Sesshoumaru. It was probably just her kind nature. [If it was me, I'd be concerned because he's the best example of the word "bishounen" I've seen in a long time.]  
  
"Lady Kagome," one of the less-ugly toad servants said, "Lord Sesshoumaru wishes to speak to you."  
  
Even with the help of a Shikon Jewel shard, Sesshoumaru was weak and bedridden. From his extravagantly bedecked chambers, the demon lord could be heard coughing, though he was no longer coughing blood.  
  
The servant left Kagome kneeling by Sesshoumaru's bed; Kagome was surprised that it was a Gaijin bed, since well, frankly, Commodore Perry wouldn't land for about three hundred years yet.  
  
"You wanted to see—"  
  
"Why did you save me?"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Why did you save me? You could have easily been rid of all your problems if you had let me die."  
  
"Um...well...I guess I...don't know. Rin was crying for you, and for some reason I'll never understand, I was concerned as well...I really don't know."  
  
"Hn." He rolled over, signaling to Kagome that it was time to leave him alone and go back to her toad-infested room. Kagome was developing a strong dislike for toads.  
  
[A/N: Whew! That took longer to write than I expected. Okay, I had some problems with this chapter. First of all, whether to have Kagome think "God" or "Kami." The Shinto believe in Kami, and she is Shinto, but I am Southern Baptist and whether it's in the Ten Commandments or not, we say "Oh my God" or "Lord have mercy."  
  
The second problem I had was the jewel shards. I know Kagome has the big one on that necklace, but I figure that if they get more jewel shards that fit on the other side of the jewel they obviously can't put those together with the ones on the necklace. Problem solved: put those in a bottle. Problem solved: Sesshoumaru's not gonna die! *does happy dance*  
  
Inuyasha: Damn.  
  
Sesshoumaru: Speak for yourself.  
  
Inuyasha: So if he's not gonna just die on his own...can I kill him?  
  
SPK: No. I need both of you later on in the story.  
  
Inuyasha: *dismayed and disappointed look*  
  
Sesshoumaru: *smug and triumphant look*] 


	7. Contemplation

Disclaimer: Now really...what in all hell makes you think I own Inuyasha. If I did, three things would happen: one, I wouldn't have to wait till 11:30 to watch it. Two, I'd own a Kirara plushie and the Inuyasha soundtrack. Three, the clouds would be jealous.  
  
Again, Kagome and Rin were out in the courtyard, sitting amid the fallen sakura blossoms.  
  
"Kagome, are you sure that Sesshoumaru-sama will be alright?"  
  
"Yes, Rin."  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
"Yes, Rin."  
  
"Are you sure you're sure?"  
  
"Look, he'll be fine. With his demon powers, he'll be able to heal completely within a few days and give me the jewel shard back as well." Rin looked past Kagome at a smaller building than the main one where Sesshoumaru's and Kagome's bedrooms were.  
  
"What about Jaken-sama? You didn't give him a sacred jewel shard."  
  
"First of all, I didn't give Sesshoumaru one. I...lent it to him. And Jaken's gonna be fine. Darn." Rin stood up and began to play some make-believe game she had just invented, leaving Kagome time to think.  
  
'Why did I rescue him? Was it just to stop Rin's crying? Or was it for the sake of saving a life? I don't like Sesshoumaru one bit, especially now that it's so obvious who did...this...to me. Yet I saved him. Why?'  
  
***  
  
"Inuyasha, what's wrong?" asked Miroku. Inuyasha had suddenly fallen on his knees, holding his sleeve over his nose.  
  
"It smells like Sesshoumaru's blood...a whole lot of it...ugh..."  
  
"Well, come on!" Inuyasha staggered to his feet and ran on with the others.  
  
When they reached the riverbank, Inuyasha actually sank to his knees from the reek of all the blood. Miroku, Sango, and Shippou staggered a bit, but Kirara halted beside Inuyasha, laid down on her stomach, and transformed back to her kitten form, covering her snout with her front paws as best she could.  
  
"It appears that someone got to Sesshoumaru before you could, Inuyasha," said Miroku.  
  
"Damn. Can we leave now? It reeks!"  
  
"Yes, we have to find Kagome. Inuyasha, are you still in enough of your right mind to point us in the direction of the castle?" All Inuyasha could do was point and black out.  
  
***  
  
"Why does he weigh so much?" grunted Sango, who had been supporting Inuyasha's torso for the past half hour.  
  
"I don't know. Maybe we should stop here."  
  
**  
  
"Miroku?"  
  
"Yes, Shippou?"  
  
"Do you think Kagome's alright?"  
  
"...I don't know. I hope she is, but there's really no saying. If Sesshoumaru really is dead, then who's to say that whoever his attacker didn't go and attack Kagome next?"  
  
"No way Sesshoumaru is dead. If I know him and his 'royal blood' he won't give up so easy. He wasn't attacked long ago, and we haven't seen him patrolling the lands yet, so I guess he's at the castle resting," said Inuyasha weakly from a curled up position beside the fire. Sango rubbed Kirara's head, as she too was still recovering from the overwhelming stench of blood.  
  
"I think he's biding his time until Inuyasha attacks. That's what any other wounded demon would do."  
  
Sitting up, Inuyasha said, "Well Sesshoumaru isn't just any other demon. He's a full-blooded greater Inuyoukai, and he can heal twice as fast as any other demon you've ever encountered. He'll be up and fighting tomorrow morning."  
  
"Great."  
  
***  
  
'What am I doing?' Sesshoumaru asked himself. He was still weak, weaker than he should have been, but he was up in the middle of the night, staring at the shoji that separated him from Kagome.  
  
'She is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen, human or otherwise. I swore to myself that I would never love a human, and yet...First, there is the fatherly feeling I have towards Rin, my little cherry blossom of a human child. Then there is this...admiration that I feel towards my brother's wench...surely I had taken leave of my senses when I did what I did, but I intend to take full responsibility for the pup when it is born, hanyou though it will be.'  
  
He could hear Kagome breathing on the other side of the thin rice-paper door, and for some reason he decided to go back to his room.  
  
'I have to tell her I love her, somehow...Perhaps when he returned the jewel shard to her the next day...yes, that would work...' he stumbled slightly as his head spun; Sesshoumaru was still at a loss for blood after being attacked by the tanuki impersonating his brother.  
  
Of course, Sesshoumaru didn't know that it was a tanuki, and neither did the tanuki know that he would be sent back to the forest near the castle to finish his job and attack Inuyasha.  
  
What was Naraku planning...?  
  
[A/N: Well, I don't know, either. Quit looking at me like that!  
  
Inuyasha: *evil eye*  
  
Sesshoumaru: *hits Inuyasha on head* Don't look at her like that!  
  
Inuyasha: *growl* I'll look like I want!  
  
SPK: Chill, guys!  
  
Inuyasha: Chill?! He took my woman!  
  
Sesshoumaru: Oh, stop whining! IT wasn't my idea.  
  
Inuyasha: *round on SPK*  
  
SPK: *looks around nervously* Sesshoumaru...help me!  
  
Sesshoumaru: What if I don't want to?  
  
SPK: *flames of rage* YOU'LL DO WHAT I TELL YOU TO.  
  
Sesshoumaru: yes ma'am. 


	8. Inuyasha Arrives at the Castle

[Well, it's been about two weeks (I guess...who keeps up?) since I updated this story, but as somebody once said, "If they want and uninspired ending, then inspiration be damned." Here goes.]  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. When I rule the world, however...  
  
From the top of a hill where the forest ended, Inuyasha and the others crouched, watching Sesshoumaru's castle like they had for the past hour.  
  
"What do you think is going on in there? Anything?"  
  
"I don't know."  
  
"Well when are we going to go in and rescue Kagome?" Inuyasha was silent. Things didn't add up. First, Sesshoumaru gets Kagome pregnant and does something to her that makes her forget the incident. Then he comes back and kidnaps her. Shortly after, he's attacked and gets beaten, presumably. Now he's still healing a day later than things should take...  
  
"Inuyasha...Inuyasha..." Shippou waved his hand in front of the hanyou's face. Wordlessly, he stood up and drew the Tetsusaiga.  
  
"Let's go."  
  
***  
  
"Yes, Sesshoumaru?" Kagome peered around the shoji of Sesshoumaru's bedroom. He had sent for her again, and she fairly dreaded going back to his room.  
  
However, he was sitting up and looking at her this time.  
  
"Come in." Kagome entered the dimly lit room. Gesturing to the end of the bed, Sesshoumaru spoke.  
  
"Sit down." He paused, as if searching for words, as Kagome sat down. "I still do not understand why you saved me. I have determined from your actions that you despise me. Yet you gave me a shard of the sacred jewel to help me heal."  
  
"I didn't give it to you. I loaned it to you, and I expect it back when you're better." Sesshoumaru remained silent, but shifted uncomfortably.  
  
"As to why I saved you, I still don't know. Maybe I did it to stop Rin's crying. Maybe I did it because I'm kind-hearted. Maybe it's an instinct. I don't know. What I do know is that I saved you, and Inuyasha will probably be mad about it."  
  
At the mention of his half-brother's name, Sesshoumaru flinched.  
  
"Sesshoumaru...do you mind if I ask you a question?"  
  
"You just did, so I don't see why not." Kagome straightened the skirt of the new kimono she was wearing and spoke.  
  
"Why did you do this to me?" Sesshoumaru looked ever so slightly taken aback.  
  
"I...well..."  
  
"Lord Sesshoumaru! The hanyou, the taijiya, the monk, and the kitsune cub are on the hill overlooking the castle! They request your presence!"  
  
'Inuyasha...is here? To finish me off, I suppose. I can't fight in this condition. I should be able to fight by now, but I'm still too weak..."  
  
"Lord Sesshoumaru? Are you going to come and kill the insolents, or—"  
  
"Tell them I'm not here." The toad ran off, reappearing shortly after, out of breath.  
  
"He doesn't believe you, sir."  
  
'Great, now what? I'm not going to give up Kagome. I don't plan on dying, either.' A voice disturbed his thoughts from out in the hall. Kagome had run right past him as he was deep in thought.  
  
"Is that Inuyasha? Let me go, you slimy toad! (I mean that as an insult, even though you're actually a toad.)" Eyes widening slightly, Sesshoumaru made his way over to the door.  
  
"Do not touch her!" he yelled. All movement ceased. Regaining her composure, Kagome tried to make a run for it, but Sesshoumaru cut around in front of her. Apparently, he was more healed than he thought.  
  
"You will not leave. I will deal with the filthy hanyou and you will stay here." Turning, he bid a few of the toads to drag Kagome back to her room.  
  
***  
  
"If he doesn't come out here in ten seconds, I'm going to demolish the damn castle," said Inuyasha, shouldering the Tetsusaiga. Sango, in her taijiya's catsuit, placed her hand on Hiraikotsu and waited silently.  
  
Inuyasha, after having counted to ten, started moving down the hillside towards the castle. Sango and Miroku followed solemnly.  
  
When they reached the castle courtyard and Inuyasha prepared to use the Kaze no Kizu on the nearest building, Sesshoumaru stepped out of it, looking about half as strong as he should have been.  
  
"Give back Kagome," yelled Inuyasha, with not one bit of anything in his voice except seriousness and determination.  
  
"I will not forsake my woman to the likes of you."  
  
"Then come here and I'll kill you with my own two hands."  
  
"I will not allow you to kill me either, because then Kagome will not be properly taken care of."  
  
"Since when do you actually care about her?"  
  
"That is not important. What is important is that you leave now with your life and leave me and my woman peacefully."  
  
"I'm about fed up with this 'my woman' shit, Sesshoumaru. Hand over Kagome now before I kill you." Sesshoumaru staggered, barely, but enough to be noticed by all three of the rescuers.  
  
"Inuyasha," said Miroku, "I believe there was something we were wanting to know about the blood at the river.  
  
"What would you want to know about it?" shouted Sesshoumaru. "I'm sure my idiot brother told you all about it."  
  
"Why would I know anything about it?"  
  
"You're the one who attacked me!"  
  
Confusion reigned supreme.  
  
[A/N: I know what a cruel author I am...and I revel in the fact. I will try to update more often after this.  
  
Inuyasha & Co.: You better!!  
  
Kagome: I want to be rescued.  
  
Sesshoumaru: So you don't like me at all.  
  
Kagome: No. I don't. You kidnapped me, for Christ's sake!  
  
Inuyasha: *sticks tongue out at brother and wraps an arm around Kagome's shoulders* Ha ha.  
  
Kagome: Sit.  
  
Inuyasha: *plof* What was that for?  
  
Kagome: You let him kidnap me. Now for all either of you knows, I might go run off with...Kouga or somebody like that.  
  
Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru: *astonished, revolted, and scared all in one*  
  
Kagome: Just kidding!! I love you.  
  
Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru: Which one?  
  
Kagome: Inuyasha, duh.  
  
Inuyasha:*makes face at brother, who in turn tries to strangle him, but fails miserably* Ha. Ha. Ha.  
  
Sesshoumaru: Damn.] 


	9. Kagome is Rescued

[Disclaimer: I do believe the word is self-explanatory, idiot.]  
  
Confusion reigned supreme in the courtyard. Inuyasha sheathed the Tetsusaiga.  
  
"What are you talking about, I attacked you?" he yelled.  
  
"Don't play with me, Inuyasha. I was walking along the river and you rushed me. You fought with such ferocity that I could not fend you off."  
  
"But that's impossible! Inuyasha has been with us since you kidnapped Kagome! We even discovered the place where you were attacked!' said Sango. Sesshoumaru staggered again, recovering a little later this time.  
  
"It doesn't matter. Kagome is mine and she will stay mine, whether you're alive or not," he said, eyes [downright gorgeous eyes being the ones I'm talking about] narrowing.  
  
Inuyasha leapt at his half-brother, sword forgotten, claws raised. "Cut the crap and die, kisama!!!" he yelled, voice deepening as if he were changing over to his youkai form.  
  
Sesshoumaru was not prepared for the attack. Inuyasha grabbed him by the throat and was preparing to plunge his left hand into the inuyoukai's heart when a voice stopped him.  
  
"Inuyasha!!" Kagome shouted from the doorway of a nearby building, kicking toads away form her to her best ability, owing to the limited range of movement while she was wearing the kimono.  
  
"What now!?" yelled Inuyasha, gaze not wavering from his brother's shocked face.  
  
"Don't kill him!!" Inuyasha would have fallen over had he not been kneeling on the ground, holding Sesshoumaru down.  
  
"Why the fuck not?!?!" he yelled.  
  
"Because if you defeat Sesshoumaru now it won't have been fair. You've always wanted to kill Sesshoumaru when he was at his full power, but now he's weak. He's not able to fight you! Wait until he's better, then you can do whatever you want to him."  
  
"Kagome, sometimes I wish you weren't so damned good-hearted!" Inuyasha shouted, seeming to struggle in the process of removing his claws from Sesshoumaru's throat, where they had punctured the skin. Blood was running down the sides of Sesshoumaru's neck and onto his silver hair.  
  
Wiping his claws off on Sesshoumaru's [not sure what to call it; for this story it's his tail] tail, Inuyasha stood up.  
  
"But I guess you're right. It'd be an insult to us both if I killed him now." He walked away from the stunned inuyoukai, towards his girlfriend, who ran to him and hugged him around the neck.  
  
Inuyasha wrapped his arms around Kagome, smelling her sweet scent for the first time in about four days. How he had missed that scent. Though it was now mingled with tears, it was still the same beautiful scent.  
  
***  
  
Lying limp on the ground, Sesshoumaru felt rather than saw Inuyasha and the others leave. To put it simply, Sesshoumaru was supremely confused and surprised. Obviously, the Inuyasha who attacked him was not the real one, but this Inuyasha, this REAL Inuyasha, who had attacked to get his woman back, was even fiercer than the one that had wounded Sesshoumaru so badly.  
  
And why had Kagome saved him again? She despised him, yet she had saved his life twice. Once after his brother had seemingly attacked, the second time before he attacked. It didn't fit together right in his mind.  
  
***  
  
"But I want to see Kagome!!" wailed Shippou, struggling to get out of Miroku's grasp.  
  
"Kagome has had a tiring time, Shippou. Leave her and Inuyasha alone for a while."  
  
**  
  
On one of the lower branches of a tree of a size to rival that of the Goshinboku, Kagome leaned back against Inuyasha's chest. She was back in her regular clothes, the beautiful kimono discarded somewhere in the thick forest on her right.  
  
"Kagome, why did you stop me form killing him?" asked Inuyasha quietly. Kagome stayed silent for a few seconds before answering.  
  
"I guess I just didn't want to see any more blood. When Rin and I discovered him in the woods beside the river, there was blood absolutely everywhere. It was awful." She snuggled deeper into Inuyasha's warm embrace.  
  
He hugged her tighter, arms wrapped around her from behind, fingers laced over her stomach, which was swelling barely enough to be noticed.  
  
"I love you, Kagome."  
  
"I love you too, Inuyasha." Her reply was slightly hesitant, as though her thoughts were elsewhere. [Personally, I'd kill to be in that embrace, but...]  
  
[A/N: Don't you DARE send me a review saying you liked the story, please do a sequel. It's not over yet. By all means review, but the story isn't over yet. Sesshoumaru still has to give Kagome the jewel shard back, don't forget.  
  
But wasn't it sweet when they were sitting in the tree together??  
  
Sesshoumaru: So sweet it makes your teeth rot.  
  
Kagome: I'll say it was a heck of a lot better than anything I experienced in your castle.  
  
Inuyasha: *sticks tongue out at brother and wraps arm around girlfriend*  
  
Sesshoumaru: You just wait until I'm better, then I'll kick your hanyou ass all the way to the bank.  
  
Inuyasha: Technically, you're healthy here in the world of author notes, so...*draws Tetsusaiga*  
  
SPK: Sit.  
  
Inuyasha: *bam* What was that for, bitch? I thought only Kagome could do that!!!  
  
SPK: Apparently not. Listen. I don't want any of you to kill each other off just yet.  
  
Inuyasha: Hear that, Sesshoumaru? Yet. *shoulders Tetsusaiga*  
  
And in closing, I'd like to congratulate myself on an update so soon following the last one. Woot for Jessica-san!!!] 


	10. Thinking

[Disclaimer: I'm running out of funny disclaimers!!! Oh no!!! But no, I don't own Inuyasha. Wahhhh!!!!]  
  
Sesshoumaru glared at the jewel shard he held in his hand. He would have to return it to Kagome, but Inuyasha would surely kill him if he got within smelling distance. Which brought up another disturbing thought; why was he so scared of his younger half-brother?  
  
Inuyasha now fought with such a ferocity when he was defending his woman that he would have killed Sesshoumaru had Kagome not called him off. For the first time in his life, Sesshoumaru had been absolutely terrified. Terrified of what would become of him. Of what would become of Rin. Of what would become of Kagome, the woman whom he had been so strangely attracted to since he first laid [again those gorgeous eyes] eyes on her.  
  
But why had she saved him in the first place? She had made it clear when she was staying at his castle that she despised him for what he had done to her. Admittedly, it was wrong...he had enlisted the magic of an absolutely ancient mountain-witch to help with her memory, make her forget the incident...  
  
And it had worked. Kagome did not remember the inuyoukai creeping up on her as she lay beside the fire. It was the new moon, and Inuyasha had fallen asleep by accident. There she was, sleeping peacefully, until Sesshoumaru stole her and took her to some secret cave deep in the forest. He didn't remember much of the rest, himself.  
  
And now she was gone, again back living with that hanyou brat that Sesshoumaru was ashamed to call his half-brother. 'And she's probably enjoying it,' he reminded himself.  
  
"That settles it, then. I'm going to give her back the jewel shard and let her choose who she wants to live with. Undoubtedly, it will be the hanyou, but this cannot be avoided."  
  
"Sesshoumaru-sama?" asked Rin from the other side of the shoji tentatively.  
  
"Yes, Rin."  
  
"Is the pretty lady going to come back?" She slid back the rice-paper door. Standing up, Sesshoumaru placed the shard in his pocket and put his hand on Rin's head.  
  
"No."  
  
***  
  
"Kagome...Kagome..." Shippou waved his hand in front of Kagome's face as she walked beside her bike on the path.  
  
"Huh? What?" Kagome snapped out of her reverie.  
  
"You've been acting really weird lately."  
  
"Weird? How?" Shippou shrugged.  
  
"You've been daydreaming all day, not paying attention to anything around you, and—"  
  
"Would you leave her alone, fuzzball?" Inuyasha held Shippou up by the tail. When he was gone, firmly planted on Miroku's shoulder, Inuyasha asked Kagome exactly what Shippou had been about to ask.  
  
"What were you thinking about?"  
  
"You." That wasn't a lie, she had been thinking about him, and Sesshoumaru as well. Why the heck was she thinking about Sesshoumaru after Inuyasha had just rescued her? She was with who she wanted now, wasn't she?  
  
Or had she grown attached to Sesshoumaru? Was she falling for him? No, that was silly...she loved Inuyasha. He truly loved her, and she loved him back.  
  
End of story.  
  
***  
  
"Kagome, what's wrong? You've been quiet all day," said Inuyasha, sitting beside Kagome at the fire.  
  
"What? Oh, I'm fine!" she said, managing a passable false cheer.  
  
"Good. I'm glad you're back, Kagome. I love you."  
  
"I love you too, Inuyasha." Kagome leaned over as Inuyasha put his arm around her and kissed her on the forehead. She leaned into his warm embrace and fell asleep soon after. [Waffy, yay! So sweet Baskin Robins is out of business.]  
  
But Kagome dreamed. She dreamed about being back at Sesshoumaru's castle, happy, playing with Rin in the courtyard while Sesshoumaru watched from the doorway of a nearby building. It was a beautiful dream, really, but Kagome was horrified. She saw herself...happy and smiling. Where was Inuyasha? Probably dead, the way things were going...  
  
Nearly screaming, Kagome sat up with a jolt. Her eyes snapped open and she was breathing like she had just run a seven-minute mile. Inuyasha sat up beside her.  
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
"Nothing. I just had a bad dream, is all."  
  
But it had felt so real. And so good.  
  
[A/N: Is the story fizzling? I think it is. Reassure me and tell me it's not. Review! Review! Review! Now.  
  
Uh...nobody's awake to talk, but I will tell you that Miroku snores something awful.] 


	11. Sesshoumaru Returns

[Disclaimer: pulls pockets inside out See? Don't sue, cause I can't pay up.]  
  
"Lord Sesshoumaru! Wait for Rin!!" Sesshoumaru, Rin, and Jaken were once again trekking through the woods towards Inuyasha. Why? There was the simple matter of returning the jewel shard. That was it, Sesshoumaru had decided. If Kagome wouldn't have him, he wouldn't try to take her away from Inuyasha.  
  
"Hurry up, stupid girl!" yelled Jaken. He was promptly stepped on by Sesshoumaru.  
  
"But my lord—"  
  
"Be quiet, toad."  
  
"Yes, my lord." Sesshoumaru waited for Rin to catch up and then moved on. He had mixed emotions about what he was going to do. He was glad because he would get to see the one he loved, but he would never see her again, except for when she was at the fights he had with Inuyasha. Inuyasha...The only way he would give up Kagome was if he was dead.  
  
Things would have been a lot simpler if Sesshoumaru's stupid hanyou brother was dead. But the idiot had gone and learned all the Tetsusaiga's techniques; including the two nobody had ever thought he would learn: the Kongousouuha and the Red Blade...  
  
But this proved nothing. Those attacks, while impressive, were but flukes.  
  
Sesshoumaru sighed and continued walking.  
  
"Inuyasha..." Kagome trailed off, not sure what to say. There he was, standing in front of her, holding a neatly folded kimono. She took the material in her hands. It was white silk, beautifully made...she smiled.  
  
"Thank you, Inuyasha!!" She leapt at Inuyasha and hugged him around the neck. "It's beautiful!!"  
  
"I thought you might like it," he said, a little embarrassed. But he hugged her back.  
  
"Aw, isn't that sweet!" yelled Shippou, jumping up on top of Inuyasha's head. He was sharply and abruptly thrown about ten feet away, smashing into the ground. Kagome rushed over to him, concern etched on her face for her young friend. Inuyasha just stood there, arms folded.  
  
"Will you be as protective of your pup when it's born as you are of Shippou?" he asked, genuinely curious.  
  
"I can only be assured that you won't throw him around like you do Shippou. RIGHT, Inuyasha...?" Sensing the tone of her voice, he answered.  
  
"Of course."  
  
Back at camp, Sango was sitting closer to Miroku than was wise. As Kagome, Inuyasha, and Shippou entered the campsite, a very loud SMACK was heard, and Miroku fell backwards over the fallen tree they had been leaning back on.  
  
"You had better drop those lecherous habits, monk. Or I might endanger your life more than the kaazana does."  
  
"Yes ma'am... (ow, ow, ow...)"  
  
"What's that you have there, Kagome?" asked Sango. Holding the kimono up, Kagome smiled.  
  
"Inuyasha gave it to me. Isn't he sweet?" she hugged Inuyasha around the neck again. Letting go, she walked on into the camp. Again, Miroku was at Inuyasha's side like that butler guy from Mr. Deeds. (If you haven't seen that movie, he moves around so that nobody notices him, and is quiet and creepy, and really quick.)  
  
"Sucking up to her, eh? Hoping to get closer than just sleeping BESIDE her at night, huh?" The next instant, two things happened to him. One, a water bottle from Kagome's general direction hit him square on the forehead, and two, Inuyasha ground his fist into the side of Miroku's face so hard that his knuckles bruised.  
  
"Inuyasha, why did you give me the kimono? It's beautiful, and I love it, but I'm just wondering." She snuggled deeper into his embrace.  
  
"I just wanted to give you something. I don't know. I thought it would make you happy."  
  
"It did make me happy, but I'm happy just to be here with you." She leaned up and kissed him. "I love you."  
  
"I love you, too, Kagome."  
  
Again, the pair was watched from above by a pair of beautiful golden eyes. A tear was barely caught in time not to fall on Inuyasha's ear from above.  
  
So she really loved him. Sesshoumaru had thought, for a while at least, that there was a tiny bit of hope, but this proved that she was only for Inuyasha. For Inuyasha, and him alone. No room for Sesshoumaru.  
  
"Lord Sesshoumaru, where are you?" called Jaken loudly from beneath Sesshoumaru's tree. Wiping the rest of the tears away from his face, Sesshoumaru jumped down and landed beside the toad. He smashed his head into the ground as far as he could, resolving that if he was indeed dead, there was always the Tenseiga.  
  
Inuyasha and Miroku appeared at the edge of the firelight.  
  
"Sesshoumaru!" growled Inuyasha savagely. "What are you doing here?!" Sesshoumaru kicked the squished toad back into the forest and put his hand in his pocket. He with drew the shard and held it out.  
  
"I wish only to return this sacred jewel shard to Kagome. I will leave after she has the shard back." Kagome walked up behind Inuyasha and Miroku. She was slightly surprised to see Sesshoumaru; she had expected him to keep the shard.  
  
"You stay away from her! Give me the shard. Then get out of here before I rip your tongue out and hang you with it." Sesshoumaru looked at Inuyasha. A heavy feeling of defeat settling around his heart, he dropped the shard into his half-brother's outstretched hand.  
  
Inuyasha gave Kagome the jewel shard and growled at Sesshoumaru.  
  
"Go on, get out of here." Sesshoumaru bowed to Kagome and picked the smashed green mess that was Jaken out of the dirt and began walking west. Inuyasha watched him retreat before placing his arm around Kagome's shoulders and leading her back to the fireside.  
  
Nestled snugly against the smooth fabric of Inuyasha's inner shirt, with the slightly rougher material of the haori coat over her like a blanket, Kagome stared at the shard with a strange light in her eyes. She was looking at it, but not seeing it. She saw Inuyasha's face.  
  
It was actually a reflection, because his face (so cute when he was asleep) was behind her, but Kagome saw her boyfriend's face in a plane on the jewel's surface. Then, the eyes became colder, the hair different, lines appeared on the sides of his face, and a crescent moon-shaped mark appeared in the middle of his forehead. She was looking at Sesshoumaru.  
  
Kagome blinked. Sesshoumaru's face snapped back to Inuyasha's, still peacefully asleep. She sighed and put the shard in a small glass bottle. As she pulled the haori more snugly around her, Kagome thought she heard something moving in the bushes behind her, but she ignored it.  
  
[A/N: SORRY SORRY SORRY SORRY SORRY!!!!!!!! I didn't mean to make you wait this long for an update!!!! But I wasn't inspired...but now I am!! Yet you must remember, I have another story I'm working on. For Yu Yu Hakusho. Read it. Now. Go. You read it? Good. Now you...not you...the one there in the glasses who didn't review last chapter...yeah, you. Go and do thou likewise.] 


	12. Kouga Arrives

[Disclaimer: You're on something really illegal if you think I own Inuyasha.]  
  
&&&Thanks for all the reviews (especially you, Rushyuo!)!!! Keep 'em coming!!&&&  
  
"Get your hands off me, monk!!" Yes, it was indeed a bright and beautiful morning. Yes, Jaken was still alive (poor thing...there's a soft spot in my heart for the little toad...). Yes, Sesshoumaru had kept his promise—for the night at least. He hadn't shown up, trying to steal Kagome away again. Not that night, at least.  
  
But there was something about the tone of his voice when he had said it that made Kagome believe him. The faraway look in his eyes, the slight droop of his features, and the willingness he seemed to have had to accept his death from a hanyou just to give the jewel shard back.  
  
"But Sango, I—"  
  
"Don't you talk to me. That is the LAST time I want to wake up to a hand on my behind in the morning. From now on I'm sleeping close enough to the fire to grab a torch and light you afire whenever I want."  
  
"As...fun...as all that sounds, we better get going. Inuyasha! (Hurry up, she's out for blood!)"  
  
&&&12345&&&  
  
The day was hot, but not hot enough to keep Shippou quiet.  
  
"So then Sesshoumaru's gonna get smashed into the ground next time he shows up?" he asked eagerly.  
  
"If he's smart, he won't show up at all," said Inuyasha, putting a hand on Kagome's shoulder as if to warn anyone who might have been watching to stay clear of his woman.  
  
"What if anyone else comes after her?"  
  
"Like who?" A sudden whirlwind on the horizon answered his question.  
  
"Oh, no...why now?" said Kagome. Within a minute, Kouga was skidding to a stop in front of Inuyasha, who still had his hand on Kagome's shoulder. As the dust cleared, Kouga's voice rang out into the once peaceful day.  
  
"Hey, mutt! Get your hand off my woman!" he yelled. Inuyasha growled.  
  
"Inuyasha, settle down. How are you, Kouga-kun?" said Kagome cheerily. Kouga was about to say something when he stopped. Sniff, sniff. He smelled the air around Kagome.  
  
"You've changed. What did you do to her, mutt?" Inuyasha growled low in his throat again.  
  
"It wasn't me. It was my dumbass brother."  
  
"You let another man sleep with MY KAGOME?!"  
  
"She ain't YOUR woman anyhow, so shut up!"  
  
"All the more reason for you not to let anyone else get ahold of her!" Kouga and Inuyasha were practically at each other's throats. Kagome stepped in and pushed them apart.  
  
"Can you two stop fighting for once? This happens every time you get within ten miles of each other; you're fighting like cats and dogs—"  
  
"Technically, Kagome, they're both dogs," said Sango.  
  
"Watch who you call dog, girl," growled Kouga. "I'm a wolf and that's all there is to it."  
  
"All I'm saying is that dogs and wolves are very closely related, is all," she said, scooting back out of the argument.  
  
"Whatever."  
  
&&&12345&&&  
  
"And then what?" a female voice asked from the shadows of a forest. Sesshoumaru leaned against a tree, eyes laden with sorrow and defeat, talking to the voice, not really caring who it was.  
  
"Then I left. I do not doubt that my brother could kill me if he wished. Especially after all that has happened."  
  
"Then what are you going to do?" the smooth voice asked quietly. Sesshoumaru sighed heavily.  
  
"I suppose I shall have to keep my promise. I do not intend to die, not before I can at least see Kagome's face one more time." The voice didn't reply, but a light breeze whistled through the trees as the woman to whom the voice belonged left.  
  
'So it really was Sesshoumaru...I thought as much. I had rather hoped it would be Kouga, that way Inuyasha would be quick about killing him and I would have the chance to take his jewel shards, but it was indeed the hanyou brat's half-brother,' thought Kagura as she floated on a feather over the forest.  
  
&&&12345&&&  
  
"Goodbye, Kouga-kun!" called Kagome as Kouga sped off into the distance. All of a sudden, he stopped and yelled back a few well-chosen insults.  
  
"And if I EVER catch wind of you EVER letting Kagome out of your sight AGAIN, I'll rip your ears off and make you eat them!! Later, mutt-face!!"  
  
Inuyasha scowled, wishing dearly that he had taken the chance to use the Kongousouuha on Kouga when he had the chance.  
  
"What are you so upset about now?" asked Shippou, hopping up to Inuyasha's head. Prying the kitsune from his hair, Inuyasha answered, "I only wish I'd killed him when I had the chance."  
  
"Sit."  
  
"What the hell was that for?!"  
  
"For being stubborn. I don't belong to anyone. I may be your girlfriend, but I am not your property. Nor am I Kouga's, or Sesshoumaru's, or anyone else's!" Inuyasha stood up, brushing dirt from his shoulder and Shippou from his head again.  
  
And they continued on their way.  
  
[A/N: Behold...a new chapter!!! Squee!! Not sure what to do next...oh well. Strawberry gum is teh awesome...chew chew blows bubble bubble pops  
  
Uh...sorry about the &&&12345&&&...new formatting, and it won't have any breaks at all if I don't put that.  
  
Ja ne.] 


	13. Return to the Present

[Disclaimer: Officer! Officer! Minor in possession!! i.e., The Reader Is Undoubtedly Drunk.]  
  
"Kagura...what did Sesshoumaru have to say?" asked Naraku from a shadowy room in a richly furnished castle. The wind sorceress slid back the shoji and entered the room, a disgusted expression on her face.  
  
"He said that he loved the human girl very much, and that she apparently loved Inuyasha."  
  
"Kagura, I sent you to find out things I did not already know."  
  
"I'm getting to it. He told me what happened—how Kagome lent him the jewel shard to keep him from dying. I wonder why she did that as well. She hasn't shown any signs of even remotely liking him, let alone loving him back."  
  
"But I have turned people against one another before, and I can do it again. If I turn Kagome against Inuyasha, and force Sesshoumaru to watch her being killed by his dear beloved brother, the two inuyoukai will turn against each other. Whoever kills the other I can easily be rid of, and then they will all be out of my way." Kagura shifted from one foot to another.  
  
"But how are you going to get Inuyasha to kill Kagome?"  
  
"Kagura...I have possession of your heart, not your brain. I will send someone to impersonate Inuyasha, and make them kill Kagome. Or perhaps I could go myself...It's delightfully fun to watch your enemy squirm and bleed at your fingertips."  
  
Kagura backed nervously out of the room.  
  
&&&12345&&&  
  
"Lay off, monk."  
  
"Sango, I merely wish to—"  
  
"I'm warning you..."  
  
"Ow! What was that for?!" Sango glared a glare that was unlike any glare that had ever before been glared at anyone deserving of a glare. Miroku clutched his head with one hand and waved the other in a sign of appeasement, backing away slowly.  
  
Kagome also glared at Miroku, but less fiercely. "We'll be at a village soon, so don't go making trouble," she said. Shippou bounced up and down at her side, eating a cookie Kagome had given him.  
  
"Is there a jewel shard in the town?" he asked.  
  
"No. It's just Kaede's village. We'll stay there for a couple of days and then be on our way."  
  
"Then are you going to go visit your mom while we're there?" he asked. Kagome stopped walking. Inuyasha snuck up behind Shippou and stepped on his head.  
  
"What did I say, what did I say?!" yelled Shippou.  
  
"Shut up, Shippou," said Inuyasha. "Even though I have been wondering how your mom's going to handle the whole thing."  
  
"You were there! She chased me out. She told me never to come back. If I go back to the shrine, she'll probably call the cops on me. She hates me." A tear slid down her cheek.  
  
"She doesn't hate you, Kagome," reassured Inuyasha.  
  
"Yes she does. She told me to stay in the Sengoku Jidai for the rest of my life!" Sango put her hand on Kagome's shoulder.  
  
"What does it matter if she hates you? You know Inuyasha loves you. Shouldn't that be enough?" she asked.  
  
"I guess, but I do think I want to talk to her."  
  
"Problem solved, then," said Shippou. "You can go through the well and talk to her when we reach Kaede's village!" Not one to put forth the fact that this was indeed the obvious plan and ruin forever Shippou's self- confidence, Kagome said, "Good thinking, Shippou."  
  
&&&12345&&&  
  
"Kaede, are you positive that Inuyasha and I are the only ones who can go through the well to my time?" Kagome asked shortly after they arrived at the village in the early afternoon.  
  
"I'm not sure. It seems that anyone with a jewel shard would be able to get through, but I do not know for sure. It might be worth a try. Why do ye ask?"  
  
"No reason. I was just curious." Heading back outside to where Inuyasha and Miroku were talking to one of the villagers, Kagome spotted Shippou playing with Kirara. She walked over to him.  
  
"Shippou, I have a surprise for you!" she said. The kitsune bounded over, playmate forgotten.  
  
"What is it, what is it, what is it?!" Shippou asked excitedly. Reaching a hand into her pocket, she withdrew a jewel shard.  
  
"Is that a—?"  
  
"You're coming with me and Inuyasha to see my mom later, but don't tell anyone else." Shippou's eyes grew round as he looked at the shard. "Do you understand, Shippou?" He nodded, accepting the small pink fragment. "Good."  
  
&&&12345&&&  
  
"Kagome, shy is Shippou following us?" asked Inuyasha that evening as they walked towards the well.  
  
"He's coming because I want him to come. I want him to meet my mom." Inuyasha looked at her.  
  
"Why didn't you want to bring Sango or Miroku, then?" Kagome thought for a second before she answered.  
  
"I think my mom will take more of a liking to Shippou because he's so cute. Remember what she did to your ears?"  
  
"Oh. Yeah...What is everyone's insane obsession with my ears?" Kagome smiled and tugged her boyfriend's right ear, the one closest to her.  
  
"They're cute." Shippou laughed.  
  
12345  
  
Climbing out of the well seemed different this time. Like she wasn't supposed to be using the well at all. Sure, there was a seal over the top (and that might have been a hint to STAY AWAY...), and the door to the shrine holding the well was also sealed, but there were things to be said and for them to be said, the three had to get out of the well.  
  
The back yard was quiet except for the sound of a couple of birds that had not yet gone to their nests for the night. Kagome took a deep breath and stepped up to the back door. Before she could knock, however, the door opened.  
  
------------------------- [A/N: I know I'm evil!! Cliffhangers are fun, aren't they? Review or else.  
  
Inuyasha: I want to know what happens!!  
  
Kagome: Settle down, Inuyasha.  
  
Miroku: I want to know what happens, too.  
  
SPK: Be patient, guys. Hey you. Not you, Shippou. The reader. REVIEW MY STORY OR I SHALL SMITE YOU. smite smite smite.] 


	14. the Visit to Kagome's Mom

[Disclaimer: (insert witty disclaimer here)]  
  
"Souta!"  
  
"Kagome..." Kagome's little brother Souta stared at his sister from the doorway like he had seen a ghost. "I didn't think you would come back after what Mom said to you..." he continued to stare.  
  
"Shut your mouth, Souta," said Inuyasha, reaching out and tapping Souta's bottom jaw back up to click against the top.  
  
"Is Mom at home?" Kagome asked. Souta snapped out of it and began talking like a normal person again.  
  
"No. She should be home soon, though. Did you come to talk to her?"  
  
"Yeah. Why else would I have come back?" Souta moved aside for them to come in.  
  
&&&12345&&&  
  
Kagome, Inuyasha, and Shippou sat on the couch, and Souta went upstairs to do his homework. It felt strange to Kagome to be in her house. She guessed it was the modern-ness of it all.  
  
'I wonder if she's going to yell at me again. I have a few things to say to her...like whether or not she cares that I didn't even choose to be pregnant...' She was jerked sharply out of her reverie by the sound of her mother entering the house through the kitchen door.  
  
"Souta, I'm home!" she called. Setting the groceries on the counter, she walked into the living room. Small surprise that she screamed bloody murder when she saw her daughter and the one who she thought got her daughter pregnant sitting on her living room couch.  
  
"What are you doing here?!" she yelled. Kagome stood up.  
  
"Mom, I—"  
  
"Oh, this is perfect. Not only does my former daughter come back to a house from which she has been banished, but she brings that...that...mutt here with her!!" Inuyasha adopted an insulted look but kept silent. Shippou, however, was not so wise.  
  
"Hey! You leave him alone!" He bounded up onto Inuyasha's head and from there to Kagome's shoulder. Mrs. Higurashi stepped back. "Who are you?" she asked. "Another demon?"  
  
"I'm Shippou, Kagome's friend."  
  
"Leave him alone, Mom. I came to talk to you, and if you'll just listen to what I have to say, I'll go back to the Sengoku Jidai and leave you alone forever." Sighing heavily, Kagome's mother sat down and allowed her daughter to speak.  
  
Kagome told the whole story. About how much she had cried, about how Inuyasha promised to take care of her and the baby, how Sesshoumaru kidnapped her, and about how Kouga got mad at Inuyasha for letting all this happen in the first place.  
  
She cried part of the way through, and Inuyasha put his arm around her, never saying a word. When Kagome finally got finished telling the story, Mrs. Higurashi found her voice.  
  
"It sounds to me like the whole thing was Inuyasha's fault..." she said quietly. Inuyasha looked at his girlfriend's mother with honesty in his eyes. Kagome came to Inuyasha's defense.  
  
"Mom, if he had had the choice, he would never have let this happen! He's a good person. Sure, he can get a little childish at times, and he's the most jealous and competitive person I've ever met in my life, but he's really a good person. I love him."  
  
Mrs. Higurashi looked from Kagome to Inuyasha to Shippou and back.  
  
"If your friends...your life...is in the Sengoku Jidai, why did you come back here?" she asked.  
  
"To let you know the truth, of course," said Inuyasha. "You would have gone on hating your own daughter for the rest of your life, believing that it was all her choice."  
  
"What do you know anyway, you mongrel?!" Inuyasha suppressed a growl.  
  
"I spent most of my life without my mother. If I could have chosen, I would have spent that time with her instead of letting her die. Kagome was going to spend the rest of her life in the Feudal Era with us just because you said you didn't want her to come back here! Even when you disowned her, she did what you wanted her to!" he said.  
  
Mrs. Higurashi cast her eyes upon Shippou. "And I suppose you feel the same?" Shippou thought of his parents and of how at least one of Inuyasha's had survived longer than the other.  
  
"Both my parents were murdered. Inuyasha and Kagome got revenge for me."  
  
"Oh." There was a pause.  
  
"Well?" said Inuyasha.  
  
"I don't hate you, Kagome. I suppose I was just...angry. That this could happen at all, not even whether or not it was your choice."  
  
[Ah, yes. Insert warm chick-flick-reunion-y scene here. I'm no good at writing those. On with the story, when Inuyasha, Kagome, and Shippou return to the feudal era:]  
  
&&&12345&&&  
  
"I'm glad your mom's not mad at you anymore, Kagome," said Shippou.  
  
"Me, too," she said, looking up at the stars through the leaves overhead.  
  
[A/N: That was...short. Was it? It seemed short to me. I'm trying my hardest here, and the next chapter will hold Naraku's plan to kill Inuyasha, Sesshoumaru, and Kagome. Dun-dun-dun! I'm out of school for the summer now, so I should be able to write more. If you want to contact me in some other way than reviewing or e-mailing me, IM me (MSN messenger) at saotome131hotmail.com.  
  
Ja ne, I suppose.] 


	15. Help From the Tanuki

[Disclaimer: Inuyasha is indeed divine, but alas it is not mine.]  
  
"Do not fail me, tanuki. You will die anyway, of course, but if you complete the job this time, you will die quickly and relatively painlessly." The raccoon backed nervously out of the room, transformed into a certain demon lord, and took off for a remote place in some Japanese forest.  
  
&&&12345&&&  
  
"So Kagome, how did things go with your mother?" asked Sango the next day as they were on their way again. Kagome smiled and gave the full account of the talk with her mother.  
  
"I'm glad things worked out, Kagome," said Miroku from ahead with Inuyasha. He would have continued smiling had he not been bowled over from behind by a white blur. Kagome shrieked as she was whisked away in the arms of a Sesshoumaru impersonator.  
  
"Sesshoumaru, bring her back here you bastard!" Inuyasha leapt into the air after who he believed to be his brother. He was kicked to the ground by the imposter, who quickly fled, taking Kagome with him.  
  
&&&12345&&&  
  
"Sesshoumaru!" yelled Kagome. "You PROMISED! You promised us you wouldn't take me away again! You promised you would leave us all alone! You PROMISED!" Hot tears began to pour from her eyes as she cried out her grievances.  
  
"Inuyasha's going to be really mad at you! He'll kill you! He'll kill you and I won't care!" she found herself saying this, even though she knew it wasn't true. She knew she would care if Sesshoumaru died.  
  
She'd care one hell of a lot.  
  
&&&12345&&&  
  
"Ah...Kagome...how nice to see you," said Naraku when the imposter and Kagome reached his castle. Kagome's eyes widened in shock and realization.  
  
"You set the whole thing up, didn't you?" Naraku smiled an evil smile. "You...you..." she stepped a little towards him. "You scumbag!" she slapped the evil man across his face. He did nothing for a moment, face frozen. Then his eyes narrowed and his evil smile faded. He grabbed Kagome's arm roughly and threw her back at the imposter Sesshoumaru.  
  
"Take her away. Now!" They backed out of the room, into the hall. The tanuki, still disguised as Sesshoumaru, took Kagome down the hall, into another part of the castle (hopefully out of earshot of Naraku).  
  
"Higurashi Kagome, I am not Sesshoumaru," he said when they reached a room far at the other end of the castle. Kagome was, very plainly, CONFUSED. [Let me spell it for you...] "I am a tanuki hired by Naraku to impersonate the demon lord. I also was the one who disguised himself as Inuyasha and attacked Sesshoumaru while you were staying with him. I had no choice but to do these things, and so help me I'm determined to assist you now," he said. Kagome smiled.  
  
"I know a way out, but you must continue carrying on like you were a moment ago," he said. Kagome nodded. "This is my plan..."  
  
&&&12345&&&  
  
"Hurry, Inuyasha!" called Sango. The hanyou didn't hear her as he leapt above the trees to chase after who he believed to be his brother. None of them had seen which way the tanuki carried Kagome, so instinctively Inuyasha headed west, where the castle was.  
  
He flew like the wind and thought of nothing but various gruesome ways in which he could kill Sesshoumaru. It took all he had to keep himself under control and not rip apart everything he saw before him.  
  
BAM. He rolled to a stop on the ground and punched the stuffings out of a tree. He was furious with himself. How could this have happened?! That bastard Sesshoumaru had almost fooled Inuyasha into thinking that he would keep his promise to stay away from Kagome. Still breathing hard, Inuyasha leapt off again in search of Sesshoumaru.  
  
&&&12345&&&  
  
"Sesshoumaru-sama, what is that noise?" asked Rin. Sesshoumaru looked up from what he was doing to listen to the noise of an approaching figure.  
  
FLASHBACK  
  
"Sayonara, Naraku, you bastard!!" yells the tanuki as he and Kagome escape Naraku's castle. The tanuki, still disguised as Sesshoumaru, is carrying an unconscious Kagome, presumably knocked out in the struggle to get out of the castle. He leaps from the ground as Kagura sends out her wind blades. She curses as they miss. Taking aim again, the wind sorceress unleashes another batch of the invisible blades. One strikes the tanuki on the shoulder.  
  
He falters, but goes on.  
  
ENDFLASHBACK  
  
Sesshoumaru looked on in amazement as Kagome was carried onto his property by a dark-furred tanuki. [A/N: For the slower readers out there, apparently Sesshoumaru's and Naraku's castles are apparently fairly close to each other as opposed to Kaede's village; hence Inuyasha does not arrive first, even though he has been traveling longer. And yes, Sango and Miroku are following him. On with the story.]  
  
"Kagome..." Sesshoumaru trailed off as the tanuki set down the unconscious girl and collapsed to his knees, holding his profusely bleeding shoulder. "Lord Sesshoumaru...I did not know where else to bring her...but I knew you would take care of her until...she can find...proper...help..." At least the raccoon died helping someone, ne?  
  
Sesshoumaru was fairly unsure of what to do. He had promised that he would leave Kagome and Inuyasha alone for the rest of his life, but he had been entrusted with her care, at least for a short while. He had to see to her wounds, didn't he? Ah...the brilliance of loopholes.  
  
12345  
  
Kagome woke up a few hours later inside Sesshoumaru's castle. She was in the room she had lived in before, but her clothes had not been changed. There was a kimono neatly folded on a chair across the dimly-lit room in case she needed it, but her clothes had not been previously changed.  
  
As she raised her hand to move some hair out of her eyes, Kagome noticed how carefully the wounds she had received from Kagura were bandaged. There were several large gashes on her left arm, one on her right shoulder, and a few in various places on both of her legs. But they were all cleaned up and bandaged. That was good.  
  
The door opened and Rin entered. "Sesshoumaru-sama sent Rin to ask how you're doing," she said. Kagome smiled faintly.  
  
"I'm better now."  
  
"Good. Sesshoumaru-sama wants to speak to you. He sent Rin to ask if he could do that, also."  
  
"Sure."  
  
"OK!" she left the room and returned less than five minutes later with the demon lord in tow. She left the room, sliding the shoji shut behind her and going off in search of Jaken so they could play.  
  
"Kagome..."  
  
"Sesshoumaru, I...um...thank you for letting me stay here for the night."  
  
"The night?" Sesshoumaru's face showed the slightest sings of disappointment.  
  
"Well, I'm sure Inuyasha will come to get me," said Kagome quietly, staring at the floor. Sesshoumaru sat down next to her on the bed. Kagome continued speaking, quiet as ever. "And I'm sure that once I explain the situation to him, he won't kill you."  
  
"...He will kill me someday, for whatever reason or other. It may be over you. It may not. I have no preference." Kagome looked at the inuyoukai. "But I do somehow hope that I die fighting over the one I love." He leaned forward a bit. "You are the one I love, Higurashi Kagome." A tear slid down Kagome's cheek as she came to grips with reality.  
  
"Sesshoumaru, I...I love you too!" She burst into tears and leaned into his chest. Startled for a moment, Sesshoumaru put his one remaining arm around the sobbing girl.  
  
[Oooooooooooh....In the immortal words of Kelso, "Burn!!!!!" How will Inuyasha react to all of this? Will he still rip Sesshoumaru's head off and piss down his throat? Will he still hang him in effigy and then hang him for real? Will he...enough of that. I'm going to get a butt-TON of work done on this today alone, and I have the next chapter planned. Get ready for this. It will be the BEST END TO THE BEST STORY I HAVE EVER WRITTEN EVER. It's a double chapter, the same chapter two ways (songfic and not, because I don't like it when they don't give you a choice about whether or not you want to be reading the song while you read the chapter). Plus, there's going to be an epilogue chapter after that, telling about the baby and other various tidbits that I can't say without giving away the end of the story too soon. Ja ne, I suppose. Look me up on LiveJournal.com: electrokinetic] 


	16. You Mourned the Death of Your Bloody Val...

[Disclaimer: He'll run for his life, as fast as he can; he'll run like a sissy, and forget he's a man. FANGIRLS. I'm not one, so I don't actually claim ownership of Inuyasha. I can wish, however.]  
  
[A NOTE: This is a double chapter. Two chapters in one? Not a snowball's chance in hell. I mean that I have included two versions of the same chapter. One is a songfic ("Bloody Valentine" by Good Charlotte) and the other is the EXACT SAME CHAPTER without the song's lyrics. The first version I have presented here is the chapter without the song. Scroll about halfway down to read the songfic chapter. I recommend reading both, but whatever. ]  
  
Miroku, Sango, and Shippou caught up to Inuyasha later that night when he had exhausted himself and was thus forced to stop. He had built a fire and was sleeping fitfully next to it. Miroku shook his shoulder gently and was rewarded with nearly being choked to death by a surprised hanyou. They all slept the rest of the night with uneasy minds.  
  
The morning found Inuyasha rushing off with a renewed strength to find Kagome. He was desperate. He had let himself be strung along by a lie from his damn brother, and now he had gone and kidnapped Kagome again. Shit. This was lovely...  
  
It started to rain as Inuyasha came within sight of the castle. He drew the Tetsusaiga with a grim expression on his face. He jumped from the hill he was standing on and landed in the courtyard of Sesshoumaru's castle. The rain increased from a drizzle to a downpour.  
  
&&&12345&&&  
  
Kagome was relatively content in her room at the castle, talking to Rin. Both girls ignored the rain. Neither knew that Inuyasha was outside. Neither knew of the fight that would ensue shortly. Neither knew who would triumph.  
  
&&&12345&&&  
  
Sesshoumaru stepped out into the courtyard, not even blinking in the rain. He yelled across the space between them, "I love Kagome." Inuyasha rushed forward with the Tetsusaiga at Sesshoumaru, who dodged.  
  
&&&12345&&&  
  
"Pretty lady, what was that noise?" asked Rin. Kagome looked up from where the two were playing with Rin's doll.  
  
"I don't know. Let's go see." The two girls left the room to go see what the commotion was about outside.  
  
&&&12345&&&  
  
"You promised, kisama. You PROMISED you wouldn't take her away again! You promised and I fell for it!! Well not anymore! I'm going to kill you!!" [A/N: (And then I'll bring you back to life, and then kill you again!!! Mwahahaha...)]  
  
Sesshoumaru sidestepped Inuyasha's attack and swiped at his back with his claws, ripping through cloth, skin, and muscle. Inuyasha growled in pain, but turned around swiftly and sank his own claws into his brother's shoulder.  
  
The fighters separated and circled each other. Inuyasha used the Tetsusaiga as a shield when Sesshoumaru drew Tokijin and attacked. The clang of sword on sword echoed throughout the estate, even with the constant boom of thunder and all-around racket of driving rain.  
  
&&&12345&&&  
  
"It looks like Sesshoumaru-sama is fighting with someone," observed Rin. Kagome was both delighted and frightened to discover that it was Inuyasha Sesshoumaru was fighting. Someone was going to die. Someone she loved would die.  
  
&&&12345&&&  
  
Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru had been fighting for almost an hour, and they were both getting tired. Both combatants were bleeding from over a dozen places, and both were breathing heavily. It would take only one wrong step...one false move and—  
  
The rain was blinding both brothers, but apparently it affected Sesshoumaru more. He slipped in the mud. Inuyasha seized his chance and plunged the Tetsusaiga into the heart of his half-brother. He heard Kagome's scream and looked up.  
  
Kagome rushed over, Rin not far behind. Tears were indistinguishable from the rain on their faces. Inuyasha dropped the Tetsusaiga and caught Kagome in his arms as she approached him. Rin sobbed over Sesshoumaru's broken and bloody body. Kagome wept into Inuyasha's haori coat, wrapped in his embrace. It wasn't the one she would have chosen.  
  
##

_Oh my love, please don't cry.  
  
I'll wash my bloody hands and we'll start a new life.  
_  
##  
  
Miroku, Sango, and Shippou caught up to Inuyasha later that night when he had exhausted himself and was thus forced to stop. He had built a fire and was sleeping fitfully next to it. Miroku shook his shoulder gently and was rewarded with nearly being choked to death by a surprised hanyou. They all slept the rest of the night with uneasy minds.  
  
The morning found Inuyasha rushing off with a renewed strength to find Kagome. He was desperate. He had let himself be strung along by a lie from his damn brother, and now he had gone and kidnapped Kagome again. Shit. This was lovely...  
  
It started to rain as Inuyasha came within sight of the castle. He drew the Tetsusaiga with a grim expression on his face. He jumped from the hill he was standing on and landed in the courtyard of Sesshoumaru's castle. The rain increased from a drizzle to a downpour.  
  
##  
  
_I ripped out his throat and  
  
Called you on the telephone  
  
To take off my disguise  
  
Just in time to hear you cry.  
_  
##  
  
Kagome was relatively content in her room at the castle, talking to Rin. Both girls ignored the rain. Neither knew that Inuyasha was outside. Neither knew of the fight that would ensue shortly. Neither knew who would triumph.  
  
##

_When you, you mourned the death of your  
  
Bloody Valentine the night he died.  
  
You mourned the death of your Bloody Valentine  
  
One last time.  
  
Oh my love, please don't cry.  
  
I'll wash my bloody hands and  
  
We'll start a new life.  
  
I don't know much at all,  
  
I don't know wrong from right.  
  
All I know is that I love you tonight.  
_  
##  
  
Sesshoumaru stepped out into the courtyard, not even blinking in the rain. He yelled across the space between them, "I love Kagome." Inuyasha rushed forward with the Tetsusaiga at Sesshoumaru, who dodged.  
  
##  
  
_There was police and flashing lights;  
  
The rain came down so hard that night.  
  
The headlines read "A Lover Died."  
  
No telltale heart was left to find  
_  
##  
  
"Pretty lady, what was that noise?" asked Rin. Kagome looked up from where the two were playing with Rin's doll.  
  
"I don't know. Let's go see." The two girls left the room to go see what the commotion was about outside.  
  
##  
  
_When you, you mourn the death of your  
  
Bloody Valentine the night he died.  
  
You mourn the death of your Bloody Valentine  
  
One last time.  
  
Oh my love, please don't cry.  
  
I'll wash my bloody hands and  
  
We'll start a new life.  
  
I don't know much at all,  
  
I don't know wrong from right.  
  
All I know is that I love you tonight.  
_  
##  
  
"You promised, kisama. You PROMISED you wouldn't take her away again! You promised and I fell for it!! Well not anymore! I'm going to kill you!!" [A/N: (And then I'll bring you back to life, and then kill you again!!! Mwahahaha...)]  
  
Sesshoumaru sidestepped Inuyasha's attack and swiped at his back with his claws, ripping through cloth, skin, and muscle. Inuyasha growled in pain, but turned around swiftly and sank his own claws into his brother's shoulder.  
  
The fighters separated and circled each other. Inuyasha used the Tetsusaiga as a shield when Sesshoumaru drew Tokijin and attacked. The clang of sword on sword echoed throughout the estate, even with the constant boom of thunder and all-around racket of driving rain.  
  
##

_He dropped you off, I followed him home.  
  
Then I stood outside his bedroom window.  
  
Standing over him, he begged me not to do  
  
What I knew  
  
I had to do  
  
'Cause I'm_ **so in love with you**_.  
_  
##  
  
"It looks like Sesshoumaru-sama is fighting with someone," observed Rin. Kagome was both delighted and frightened to discover that it was Inuyasha Sesshoumaru was fighting. Someone was going to die. Someone she loved would die.  
  
##  
  
_Oh my love, please don't cry.  
  
I'll wash my bloody hands and we'll start a new life.  
_  
##  
  
Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru had been fighting for almost an hour, and they were both getting tired. Both combatants were bleeding from over a dozen places, and both were breathing heavily. It would take only one wrong step...one false move and—  
  
The rain was blinding both brothers, but apparently it affected Sesshoumaru more. He slipped in the mud. Inuyasha seized his chance and plunged the Tetsusaiga into the heart of his half-brother. He heard Kagome's scream and looked up.  
  
Kagome rushed over through the rain, Rin not far behind. Tears were indistinguishable from the rain on their faces. Inuyasha dropped the Tetsusaiga and caught Kagome in his arms as she approached him. Rin sobbed over Sesshoumaru's broken and bloody body. Kagome wept into Inuyasha's haori coat, wrapped in his embrace. It wasn't the one she would have chosen.  
  
##  
  
_I don't know much at all,  
  
I don't know wrong from right.  
  
All I know is that I love you  
  
Tonight.  
  
TONIGHT.  
_  
##  
  
[A/N: Sorry, Sesshy-lovers!! It had to be done. However, in the VERY NEAR FUTURE there will be an epilogue chapter, so be on the lookout. I had so much fun writing this story and I'm glad that there are a select few very smart people who liked my story enough to review. :: hint hint:: Au revoir, mesami. Adieu, adieu, parting is such sweet sorrow...but there's an epilogue!! Ja ne, I suppose.]


	17. Epilogue

[Disclaimer: If I was on a desert island, I'd bring all the Inuyasha characters with me. Then Takahashi-san would come take them all away AGAIN.]  
  
"Mama, when are we leaving? I want to see Grandma now!" Yumi whined. Kagome and Inuyasha were following the six-year-old girl through the forest towards the well. Yumi was to visit Mrs. Higurashi for the weekend while Miroku and Sango came for a visit.  
  
"Mama, hurry up!! Daddy, make Mama hurry!! I wanna see Grandma!!" yelled the girl. Inuyasha stopped when he reached Yumi and put his hand on her head, between her silvery fuzzy ears. "Your mom will hurry when she's ready. You've been running both of us ragged all morning 'cause you're so excited about seeing Grandma. Slow down for a while."  
  
"Ok, Daddy." Kagome smiled. Yumi was such a pretty little girl, so naïve and innocent. She had no idea what had happened to Sesshoumaru, or even that he was her father. She did know that Auntie Rin was not Kagome's sister. She had inherited her mother's eyes, her mother's laugh, and her mother's personality. Sesshoumaru supplied the ears on top of her head, her delicate features, and the whole being-half-demon thing.  
  
Yumi was happy with her life, though she did not always understand why she sometimes found her mother crying over a neatly folded kimono in a back room of Kaedoe-baa-chan's hut. Then Auntie Rin would come in, usher Yumi out, and console Kagome. They both missed Sesshoumaru, but both had learned to love Inuyasha.  
  
It wasn't as though Kagome hadn't loved Inuyasha before...she had just loved his brother more. She never did figure out why. It could have been the way he looked, elegant and femininely masculine (bishounen, anyone?). It might have been just the way he was. Who he was. But it wasn't.  
  
It was the man inside that Kagome had admired. The one that nobody ever seemed to find out about. The one that was kept hidden behind that cold mask. That Sesshoumaru was the one Kagome had fallen in love with. That Sesshoumaru was the one that she would have spent the rest of her life with.  
  
And then there was Inuyasha. He was the one who had volunteered to be father to the girl. He was the one who would have taken care of Kagome instead of kidnapping her and keeping her in a castle for the rest of her life. The hanyou, who had been looked down upon and shunned all his life, would have truly loved Kagome. And he did. He loved her with all his heart.  
  
"Come ON!!! I wanna see Grandma!!" Yumi shouted again. Inuyasha left Kagome's side and ran to his daughter. He picked her up and set her on his shoulders. "Yeah, Kagome, come on!" he called wryly. Kagome rolled her eyes and ran to catch up with them.  
  
"Is Daddy in trouble?" asked Yumi as Inuyasha turned and began walking quickly towards the well.  
  
"Yeah, Yumi. Daddy's in trouble for making fun of Mama. Never make fun of your mother."  
  
"Or she'll pin you to a tree!" said Yumi, giggling.  
  
"No, Yumi—that was a really bad woman named Kikyo who pinned Daddy to a tree a long time ago," said Kagome.  
  
"The bitch," mumbled Inuyasha under his breath. Kagome's jaw dropped.  
  
"Inuyasha, sit!!"  
  
"What was that for?!"  
  
"I will not let you talk that way around Yumi." She picked up her daughter and proceeded to the well.  
  
&&&12345&&&  
  
"Uncle Souta!!" Yumi jumped down from her mother's arms and ran to say hi to her uncle. Mrs. Higurashi came out into the backyard. Mother and daughter hugged and greeted each other.  
  
"How's Gramps?" asked Kagome. Mrs. Higurashi bit her lower lip.  
  
"Oh, Kagome...he hasn't been doing too well. He's still in the hospital. I was just going to visit him again, when you showed up. I'm glad Yumi could stay with—" The phone rang inside and Kagome's mom hurried to answer it.  
  
Kagome and Inuyasha greeted Souta and talked for a few minutes while Mrs. Higurashi was on the phone. When she returned, she was walking slower and there were tears on her face.  
  
"Mom, what's wrong?" asked Souta. Mrs. Higurashi sniffed and took a deep breath.  
  
"Grandpa just died. He had another heart attack." Inuyasha hugged Kagome and Souta at the same time. All three were crying silently. Yumi looked up from petting the now extremely old Buyo. "What happened?" she asked. Kagome took her in her arms and decided to tell her something.  
  
"Yumi, your great-grandpa died." Yumi's smile faded.  
  
"Why are you so sad, Mama? He's in a good place."  
  
"I know, honey. It's just that...He's the second person I've lost that I don't think I'll ever be able to get over."  
  
"Who was the other one?" Kagome's face became even more somber.  
  
"Your father." [Kss...kss...Luke, I am your father...]  
  
"But Daddy's right there," Yumi argued. Inuyasha kneeled next to Kagome and Yumi.  
  
"I'm not your dad, Yumi. My brother is."  
  
"Where is he now?" Kagome's shoulders shook as she cried into Inuyasha's haori.  
  
"He's gone," said Inuyasha quietly.  
  
"Where did he go?"  
  
"I killed him. For Kagome. I love her."  
  
"And I love Inuyasha," said Kagome. "But I loved Sesshoumaru, too." Inuyasha's ears twitched. He hugged his small family as both girls cried. They cried and they cried and they cried. And he was there for them. Forever.  
  
[I'm going to miss all of you!!! ::sob sob:: But I've got a sequel in the works! Stay tuned for said sequel, telling about how Yumi treats Inuyasha now that she knows he is not her father. Review, monkey.] 


End file.
